Meeting on poverty<\/p>\n
President Soeharto has further improved top-level coordination
\nand supervision of the national drive against poverty through a
\nspecial cabinet meeting. The first of what will be a quarterly
\ncabinet meeting was held on Tuesday for four-and-a-half hours.
\nThe session was chaired by the President, who was accompanied by
\nVice President Try Sutrisno, seven ministers and the governor of
\nthe central bank.<\/p>\n
With so many poverty alleviation programs currently underway,
\nsponsored by the government and private organizations, better
\ncoordination and more effective supervision are warranted.<\/p>\n
Interministerial coordination is necessary for the effective
\nexecution of poverty alleviation programs, due to the different
\ncharacteristics of the targeted people. Programs often involve
\ncross-sectoral activities which, in the absence of good
\ncoordination, could be hindered by bureaucratic competition and
\njealousy.<\/p>\n
Poverty has decreased from 13.7 percent of the total
\npopulation in 1993 to 11.3 percent in 1996 (still more than 22
\nmillion people), but it has increasingly become localized with
\ndifferent characteristics specific to geographical location,
\nhousehold size, education, gender and age. These different
\ncharacteristics call for poverty alleviation projects, which are
\ndesigned specifically for the diverse target groups.<\/p>\n
One may indirectly connect the launching of the cabinet
\nsession to the recent wave of riots in several districts. Many
\nsocial scientists have partly blamed the riots on the widening
\ngap between the rich and poor, and the increasing concentration
\nof wealth in the hands of several business groups.<\/p>\n
But as we argued earlier, better coordination and supervision
\nare necessary now, not only to improve the effectiveness of
\nvarious poverty reduction programs, but also to prevent
\noverlapping and inefficiency. Moreover, as Coordinating Minister
\nfor Production and Distribution Hartarto explained after the
\ncabinet session, the meeting's agenda, besides including anti-
\npoverty programs, also covered matters related the development of
\ncooperatives and small and medium-sized businesses.<\/p>\n
The meeting, for example, discussed efforts to ensure that
\ncredit for small and medium-sized businesses reaches its targets.
\nThis apparently followed up the recent ruling by the central bank
\nwhich requires both domestic and foreign banks to allocate a
\nspecified portion of credit to small businesses. The ministers
\nalso exchanged views on how to facilitate more partnerships
\nbetween cooperatives and small and medium-sized firms, on one
\nhand, and big businesses on the other.<\/p>\n
The ministers were instructed by the President to design
\nprograms which would enhance partnerships between big retail
\nchains and local cooperatives and small firms and to close towns
\nin regencies to new big retail chains. The role of venture
\ncapital companies in the provinces to enhance the growth of small
\nstart-up businesses was also emphasized.<\/p>\n
The special cabinet meeting was also quite important in that
\nit once again demonstrated the government's strong commitment to
\nenhancing equity development. It also served to strengthen the
\nmessage that poverty reduction and broader-based economic growth
\nare keys to the sustainability of overall development. The
\ndevelopment process can only be sustained by national stability,
\nwhich in turn can only be maintained if all people share in the
\ngrowth and if the economy is strengthened by a broadened range of
\nbusiness.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/meeting-on-poverty-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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